A Day in the Life: Puppy Breeder

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 A Day In The Life: Puppy Breeder




I have been breeding Labrador Retrievers and Goldadors for several years now. Each litter is so unique and special, breeding dogs is such a special and fulfilling job that I am privileged to have! I just wanted to share a little bit about how we do things at Silver Lining Labs. 


I usually begin my day with feeding all of the dogs and puppies breakfast. We have Labrador Retrievers, and it is so funny to see how excited they all get when the food comes out. Even the little puppies are super food motivated! For puppies who have just started eating, I give them mashed up wet puppy food. I really like the Kirkland Chicken, Rice, and Veggie formula. I give our momma dog 24/7 access to her regular food, as well as canned dog food and the puppy kibble. After breakfast I will clean out the whelping pen. This job can take me 5 minutes to over an hour, depending on the age and stage of the puppies. Below I wrote out my routine for cleaning the kennel.



Cleaning The Whelping Pen:

1. Shovel out any puppy poops, then sweep up any debris that might be in the pen. For our most recent litter I have been trying out potty pads with a wire shelf on top but the puppies still seemed to chew up the potty pad. 
2. Wipe up any pee accidents with paper towel and disinfectant spray. 
3. Mop the entire whelping pen with hot, soapy water. I use two different mops just so that I don't get the water too dirty. 
4. Let dry and place a new potty pad in. 
5. Sometimes I also need to wash the food and water bowls, then refill with fresh water and food. 

After I clean the pen I will put the puppies back in after some quick play time. Depending on the age of the puppies I will do sound desensitization, ENS, or practice some simple things like sit or down. I will hopefully have a post on Early Neurological Stimulation out soon. 

At lunch time I go out and feed the puppies lunch. Then I will give all of our dogs some outdoor play time. Most of our dogs live outside, in a large open pen. They used to be free to roam our acreage, but they are in an exploring phase where they just run so we have been keeping them in the pen.

After playing with all the dogs and giving the puppies some time to socialize they all go back into the pen. I will go out again to feed everyone supper. 

Throughout the day I will give each of the puppies some snuggles and play time. My routine is pretty simple, especially because life can get busy with work and school. If you are just getting into dog breeding, having a simple routine is a must. It can be so easy to get overwhelmed with all of the mundane tasks that are involved with dog breeding, but don't get discouraged! Just remember that all of your hardwork is going to pay off in the long run. 
If you are already an experienced dog breeder, please comment on what your routine is like, I would love to learn more about other breeding programs! 



If you want to know more about how we do things here at Silver Lining Labs, feel free to let me know! 



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